Apple negotiates for iPhone name in China
Fears that Apple’s path to success would be blocked because they did not own the name “iPhone” in China have dissolved. Chinese trademark office records now show Apple as the owner of record.
The trademark for the word “i-phone” in China was applied for by and granted to Hanwang Technology, a Chinese maker of e-readers and other devices, in 2004, which would have been close enough to block Apple from using “iPhone”. Hanwang launched a cellular handset by that name in that year, although they no longer sell the device. According to a story on PC World, that conflict has apparently been resolved, with the trademark record that several months ago showed the Hanwang name now bears the name of Apple as the trademark owner instead.
Certainly, this could have been a problem for Apple in China, as Hanwang could conceivably have gone so far as blocking the sales of Apple’s own iPhone in China, at least under that name. According to a spokesperson for Hanwang, the Chinese manufacturer recently reached an agreement with Apple. The spokesperson would not give any details about the agreement, nor would Apple when it was asked for comment on the matter. The exact date of the settlement was unknown, so it may have come either before or after Apple started selling their iPhone in China via China Unicom. Most likely, it was before.
China Unicom said last month that it had sold 100,000 iPhones in China so far, which sounds like a large number but which has not pleased analysts of Apple’s business operations, which are legion. One possible reason for slow sales could be that the “official” iPhone sold in China had its Wi-Fi hardware removed at the request of Chinese government officials. Therefore, it is conjectured that many of the iPhones in use in China have been purchased outside the country and brought in illegally by their users or by the black market and then sold at local bazaars and flea markets. Either way, Apple is the seller of those phones, though it does make it difficult to keep track by country.
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January 14th, 2010
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